Asda: Grandmothers head online to manage household budgets

The latest Mumdex Report from British supermarket chain Asda reveals that mums of all ages are now using technology to manage the household budget and make money stretch as far as possible.

by Helen Leggatt

Nine out of 10 young mums surveyed by Asda go online to save money by shopping around. Mothers, and grandmothers, are not just using desktop PCs, more than 70% of the 5,500 women surveyed, across all age groups, owned a smartphone and 78% of those age 20-29 has shopped online via their device.

It's not just younger mums that use technology to stretch their household budgets to the fullest. A significant number (85%) of grandmothers, age 60 and over, and almost half of those age 70 and over, said they had used the Internet and digital apps to save money.

"It's refreshing to see that smartphone apps and comparison sites are not exclusive to the younger generation," says Hayley Tatum, Asda's Executive People Director, "and in general mums are feeling much more optimistic as they find effective ways to make the pound in their pocket stretch further."

Other findings from Asda's Mumdex Report (.pdf) include:

- 41% cooked meals from scratch using recipes they found online;

- Three-quarters regularly use online banking to monitor household budgets;

- Two-thirds have saved money by using the Internet to research and change service providers such as energy, insurance and banking interest rates.